Total pages in book: 60
Estimated words: 57237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 57237 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 286(@200wpm)___ 229(@250wpm)___ 191(@300wpm)
I smirked to myself. Having trained them primarily on my own thus far, they had a lot to learn about Hillcroft’s education structure. Teaching martial arts wasn’t Sid’s main gig. He was first and foremost an operator, and second, he worked with military deprogramming.
“Ah, Reese. I thought I had a whole week to recover from our first meeting,” Sid said.
I grinned.
“Aw, you’d miss me too much, sir.” Reese walked in, his brother following silently, and the two opted for the chairs in the back.
There were only eight benches, and I pointedly nudged Danny toward the front.
He huffed but complied.
“You sittin’ in?” Sid asked me.
“For a little while,” I replied. “I have a meeting at eleven.”
If my suspicions were correct, I’d get my next contract.
I wasn’t exactly happy about it. The last thing I wanted to do now was leave town, which was mainly Danny’s fault. Additionally, the twins had finally started their official schooling, and I wanted to keep up with the progress.
I sat down in the back too, and I sipped my coffee and kept an eye on my boy. Notepad and pen out, knee bouncing—Danny was impatient.
In the three weeks he’d stayed with me, he’d slipped here and there. He wanted to work. Make money. He wanted to be of use. And he struggled to understand why it would take so long for him to “graduate,” a word he’d actually used air quotes for.
He was about to find out.
“Welcome to your military deprogramming training,” Sid said, pointing a marker at the board behind him. “Over the next few months, we’ll meet here twice a week not only to shake the indoctrination they drilled into you in whatever branch you were in, but to study and identify the training others might have when you meet them in the field.”
The points on the board covered speech, posture, jargon, specific -isms that gave a military branch away in various countries, local customs in regions we often traveled in, and new lessons the men needed to learn.
Reese was the first to raise his hand. “Is this necessary for us? River and I walked after boot camp.”
I suppressed a sigh and a smirk, and I rubbed my forehead.
“Did you miss the second part of my grand speech, kid?” Sid asked. “Do you know the difference in training between a French sailor and a Turkish? If I line up three men from Afghanistan, can you identify their military backgrounds by looking at them?”
The smartass of the Tenley brothers always had a retort. “I can venture a guess about the French sailor, but fair enough. Proceed.”
Christ.
“Okay, thank you. I’ll do that,” Sid deadpanned. With a shake of his head, he turned back to the whiteboard and uncapped his marker. “The list of things you need to retain from your time in the service is short. We do work with military from all of the West often enough that we need to be well-versed in NATO terminology and the metric system.” He wrote the title of a book on the board. “After class, I suggest you go straight to the library and borrow this book. There won’t be a test—we’ll just assume you memorized it all.”
Danny threw me a look over his shoulder, and I could practically read his mind. I got it; he already knew this. What he didn’t know was how to practice patience, a skill he’d need to master in our field.
Finally.
I swallowed around the knot that’d been sinking slowly the past hour, and I spotted Danny and the Tenleys stepping out of the elevator.
The first-floor lobby was big, and their laughter echoed.
“And forget about stiff nods and handshakes.” Reese was clearly mocking something Sid had taught them.
Danny took over, darkening his voice. “Never say no to a hug—that’s how you get up close enough to feel if they’re wearing a suicide belt.”
Reese cracked up. “Watch us travel all over the Middle East hugging motherfuckers.”
I sighed and rose to my feet, and my movement must’ve registered. All three boys saw me.
“I’m glad you’re taking the class seriously,” I said. “You’ll be surprised to find out how customary hugs are in those countries.”
“I already know,” Danny chuckled, walking over to me. “It was just funny the way he said it.”
Uh-huh.
I glanced at River, only to find him watching me already.
“Did you learn anything valuable?” I asked him.
He pursed his lips and nodded once. “Yessir. And you’re leavin’ again, aren’t you?”
Yeah, he was definitely observant.
“I am.” I nodded with a dip of my chin and shifted my gaze to Danny.
“Where and when?” he demanded.
“I’m afraid I can’t say, and I ship out tomorrow morning,” I replied. It sucked, but it was part of the job. “It’s a short contract, though. I’ll be back in two weeks unless something goes wrong, so I’m not going to assign a temporary mentor to you. If you have any questions, go to Sid or Todd. Understood?”